"Hi, Dad!"

Carson Drew grinned as his only daughter came up the steps, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Her reddish-gold hair echoed the riot of deep reds and bright yellows in the leaves that hadn't yet fallen from the trees, and the wind caught a few loose strands as she grinned back at him.

"Hey sweetheart. How was the drive?"

She wrapped her arms around her father easily and they hugged tightly. "Not bad," she replied. "I meant to leave a little earlier, but Bess and George wanted to have brunch."

"You'll have to invite them over during your winter break. It's been too long."

Nancy nodded in agreement, and greeted Hannah with a happy cry and a hug before depositing her duffel in the laundry room.

"So Ned's coming over tonight?" Hannah asked, raising an eyebrow. Nancy had already alerted her, but she was just confirming.

Nancy nodded, heading to the refrigerator and taking out the water pitcher. "He should be here around six," she said.

"And when are you going over to his house tomorrow?"

Nancy paused as she poured herself a glass of water. "Um, after he's back from both grandparents' houses, so it might be late," she said. "He said he would call me when they were almost back home."

"You didn't want to go celebrate with his family?"

Nancy cast a surprised glance at her father. "And miss the feast Hannah's prepping? I'd never hear the end of it."

Carson shrugged. "Most people do one family's house for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas," he pointed out. "And, next year..."

Nancy blushed slightly. "Next year," she repeated, but didn't add anything.

She and her father sat down in the living room while Hannah prepped Nancy's work station, and talked over the semester so far. It was Nancy's first at Emerson, and while she was in no sense unfamiliar with the campus, being back in school had meant a bit of an adjustment.

Being around Ned so much had been a bit of an adjustment, too. As she took another sip of water, Nancy glanced down at her bare left hand. She and Ned had been to a jewelry store, and had looked at diamond rings; his plans to formally propose soon were an open secret in their families. What Carson and Hannah didn't know, what James and Edith didn't know, was that Ned already had proposed, during one very romantic starlit stroll outside the Omega Chi house. Nancy had listened and accepted, tears pricking in her eyes, and both of them had been laughing as Ned picked her up and held her tight. It wasn't official until she had the ring, they didn't plan on announcing until she had the ring... and for now, it was a quiet, joyful secret between the two of them.

Nancy loved being at Emerson. She loved her classes, the campus, and all the time she was able to spend around Ned. Of course sometimes mysteries still came her way, but she and Ned had been able to enjoy a lot of uninterrupted time together, too.

After her talk with her father, Nancy joined Hannah in the kitchen for their pre-Thanksgiving ritual of preparing dough and soup. The enormous pot of vegetable beef soup, along with a streusel-topped apple pie, would be delivered to the local soup kitchen in the morning. It was a way for Hannah to give in to her desire to make far too much food for the three of them, without seeing it go to waste.

Dinner was simple, given how complicated the following day would be. Hannah warmed tomato soup while Nancy grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and the three of them enjoyed the warm, comforting meal while the wind howled outside, blowing a fresh scattering of curling, dry leaves over the lawn and driveway. Hannah had decorated the house in warm coppers, burnished golds, and russet-orange, and Nancy rubbed her stomach as she sat down on the couch after their meal, content and warm. Over the weekend the house would become a riot of deep greens and burgundies, with touches of gold, as the three of them worked together to decorate the tree and make everything ready for Christmas.

Ned came over an hour later, and Nancy greeted him at the door, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug as soon as he was inside. He held her just as tightly, his lips brushing against her neck in a soft kiss, and she could feel his heart beating against hers before he released her. She knew her father was there, ready to greet Ned, but even the hours apart had felt like too long.

"Thanks for inviting me," Ned told her father with a smile, and his arm was still wrapped around Nancy's waist.

"You know you're always welcome here, Ned. Especially when the Wildcats are having such a great season," Carson said with a wink.

Nancy's father and her future husband talked over banana nut bread and mulled apple cider, while Nancy sat beside Ned and lost herself in the cadence of their voices, the rhythmic crackle of the logs in the fireplace, the warmth and security of being home and among people who loved her. Her classes were winding down, her professors assigning final projects and warning about exams, but this was a brief respite from all that. It would still be waiting for her when she returned.

It seemed to take a long time for her father and Hannah to finally announce they were retiring for the night, and Ned stood reluctantly as Hannah was finishing her tidying in the kitchen. "I guess I should go, too," he murmured, but his sweet dark eyes were apologetic. "We have to make an early start."

Nancy nodded. "I know," she murmured, stepping close to him, sliding her arms up over his shoulders as she gazed into his eyes. The way he made her feel was impossible to describe: exhilarated, deeply at peace, overjoyed and so deeply happy, and a little nervous. She couldn't imagine her life without him, and she didn't want to.

They both paused as Hannah clicked off the light in the kitchen, as she called goodnight to them and they called it back in return. Then Ned slid his arms around Nancy's waist and leaned down, until she could feel his breath against her cheek.

"I love you," he whispered.

No matter how many times he said the words, her heart still skipped a beat. "I love you too," she whispered, just before his lips brushed against hers, and soon she was entirely, blissfully lost, as the world became the warmth of his embrace and the feel of his mouth against hers and the pounding of her own heart.

He pulled back very slowly, both of them breathless, his hair mussed by the strokes of her fingers through it. She smoothed it down and they smiled at each other.

"Dad said, next year," she murmured, haltingly. "That we'd probably be splitting the holidays. You over here for one, me with your family for the other."

Ned laughed. "We'd love to have you," he said. "But it sounds like he's underestimating my appetite."

Nancy nodded solemnly, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "Very much," she murmured.

"Honey. Didn't you say you needed to text Nancy?"

"Mmm." Ned roused slowly in the backseat of his mother's SUV as his father drove them back home. Two Thanksgiving meals—one with his mother's family, the other with his father's—meant a challenge, but one Ned was always eager to take on. He had never minded the traveling, but he hadn't nodded off in the backseat on Thanksgiving since he was a child. Maybe all the schoolwork he'd done just before break had finally caught up with him. "Yeah. Thanks, Mom."

Nancy arrived thirty minutes after they did. The wonderful thing about going to both sets of grandparents' houses for the meal meant they had plenty of leftovers, and Ned's mother was finding space for them in the refrigerator when Nancy rang the front doorbell.

Ned's father glanced up from the stove. "I have plenty of hot chocolate if she'd like some," he volunteered.

Ned smiled as he answered the door. Nancy, the woman he had loved for so long, who had agreed to become his wife, stood there wrapped in her warm winter coat, her eyes shining. He wrapped her in a long hug as soon as the door was closed behind her.

"Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," she replied, laughing softly as he nuzzled against her neck. "I missed you too, handsome."

He took her hand and led her to the kitchen, where Nancy accepted a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and sat at the breakfast bar alongside Ned, watching his parents move around the kitchen. One of the local radio stations was already playing nonstop Christmas music, and occasionally they would sing along, laughing with each other.

It was Ned's favorite time of the year, hands down. They were so close to the end of the semester that Ned could almost taste it, and on Christmas day... well. He had very special plans for Christmas this year.

Ned's parents, claiming they were exhausted from all the traveling, bid Nancy and Ned goodnight after making Nancy promise she would come over for a meal before she and Ned returned to school. Then Ned suggested softly that he and Nancy head to the comfort of the den, where they could turn on the television, where they were unlikely to be interrupted.

She looked right, here. Ned had no other word for it. He didn't want to let her go, and neither of them had plans for the morning beyond sleeping in. Bess and George could brave the Black Friday sales without them.

"Nan," Ned murmured, drawing her close once they were on the couch, the low hum of the television going entirely ignored. She gazed back at him, her eyes alight with a quiet, perfect joy that made Ned's heart skip a beat. There had been a time when things hadn't been so easy between them, but now...

"I love you," she whispered, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek with her palm. "I love you so much, sweetheart."

He brushed his lips against hers, and felt her tremble slightly against his embrace. "I love you too," he whispered against her earlobe, and felt another gentle shiver in response. "Always have, baby, and I always will."

Their kisses grew more passionate, increasingly hungry, and Ned pulled her tight against him, marveling at the softness of her skin, the way she responded so eagerly to him. They were able to steal more time together at Emerson, but it was different here, in the stillness, in this place that always felt like it belonged to them.

She nuzzled against his neck and it was Ned's turn to shudder. "I love you," she whispered again. "I miss you all the time when we're apart."

He nodded, his palm stroking over her sweater, against her back. "Next year," he murmured. "Next year you'll come with us. You'll be overwhelmed by everything and we'll fall asleep in the back of the car while my parents sing Christmas songs to each other."

She smiled. "Sounds perfect," she whispered, just before their lips met again.